FBR mandates new refund system

Mandates the use of the expedited tax refund system for the submission of refund claims from October 1 onwards.

ISLAMABAD: The board-in-council of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has mandated the use of the expedited tax refund system for the submission of refund claims from October 1 onwards by manufacturers-cum-exporters.

The board has also decided to complete the implementation of general sales tax (GST) on goods and services by December 1 and to table the bill regarding the reformed GST regime in parliament in October.

They added that exemptions granted on sales tax will also be revoked in October and decided to suspend those FBR officers delaying the processing of sales tax refund claims.

In a meeting of the board-in-council of the FBR, officials from the ministry of finance and the FBR agreed that the reformed GST cannot be implemented without the efficient working of tax refunds, according to sources.

That is why manufacturers and exporters have been ordered to process refund claims through the expedited refund system put in place by the FBR.

The chairman of the FBR was visibly irked by more than 51,000 pending tax refund cases and said that the officers responsible will not be issued a charge sheet but they will be suspended from service, according to sources within the FBR.

They also added that the bill to legitimise the reformed GST programme will be brought before parliament next month and the tax will be implemented on goods and services from December 1 onwards.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.